Hatchling
by ashangel101010
Summary: Thanisson stupidly cranes his head back to get a look at the wall. He sees red eyes, eyes as red as the raven's, boring into him. There's a white face with long black hair and black paint on the jaw and across the eyes. Nat is at a loss for words; he's desperately trying to think of something to say, perhaps even his final words. I accept thee…
1. Prologue

Hatchling Prologue

* * *

Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Making of Cyborg by Kenji Kawai

* * *

Nat Thanisson has always hated nature. Whenever his brother took him planetside, he prayed that they would make it into a seedy cantina or a greasy diner before any dirt or disease-carrying insect could touch him. He was so happy that his childhood was largely spent in his brother's deathtrap of a ship and behind the sterile walls of the Academy.

So why in the Seven Sith Hells would he go on a week-long camping trip on some forest-forsaken planet?

Simple, it's because his friend pressured him into it.

As a child, the closest thing to companionship that he had was his brother, but his brother was sixteen years older than him and would rather talk about his sexual misadventures and fairly violent time as a pirate than talk about the programming in navicomputers or whatever the Hell normal children talk about.

So when he entered the Academy, he excitedly imagined a friend who liked all the things he liked (programming, hacking, greasy food) and hated all the things he hated (nature, animals, the New Republic), but then he came across a startling truth:

He was very terrible at making friends.

He was not shy, just introverted. He knew how to work under pressure and get the job done; for Force's sake, he had to hack into the New Republic's HoloNet account to secure clearance codes for his brother or else he was going to be arrested for treason, and that was when he was nine.

Unfortunately, after a childhood of being vigilant and waking up more times with a blaster to his face than he cared to remember, it was very challenging for him to relax with his classmates. Granted, his classmates were just as serious as him when it came to learning, but they knew each other from their childhoods spent on Imperial ships or rundown estates and could talk about those shitty times of eating nothing but ration bars or being punished by their perfection-demanding family.

He did not have that experience.

He came from an Imperial background likely nearly every one of his classmates, but he wasn't raised by old Imperials who became makeshift leaders during the hectic beginnings of the First Order. His parents died in a tragic traffic accident when they were taking him on a picnic for his first birthday. His brother, who was a privateer for the First Order at the time, became his guardian at the age of seventeen. His brother quit the dangerous life of being a privateer, which was somehow more volatile than his years as a pirate, and became a bounty hunter and the occasional smuggler.

There was always food on the table, and apparently a table was luxury to some of his classmates, and his brother wasn't an abusive, coldhearted bastard. Sure, his brother could act like a royal prick at times, but at least he didn't rely on Nat to avenge the family's honor. Hells, his brother wasn't even honorable in any sense of the word, but that was mostly because his clients and targets would use every dirty trick at their disposal.

It also didn't help that Nat's knowledge of Galactic Empire society could be summed up as _fuck all_ before entering the Academy. So, he couldn't exactly talk about the prestigious parties his parents threw back in the heyday of the Empire. And he couldn't exactly talk about his parents because the only thing he knew about his father was that his last name was good enough to gain admission into the Academy, while his mother was a calculating woman who abandoned her first son for her career. He will always be ashamed of her, no matter what good she did for the Empire and the subsequent First Order.

It also didn't help that his fighting style was considered too _roguish_ to his refined teachers and classmates, but at least he wasn't bullied because who wants to take on a kid that can make you swallow your own front teeth?

He spent nearly six years being friendless at the Academy. His only consolation was that his brother wasn't the type to ask if he made any new friends. In his brother's world, there were only three types of people: his baby brother, girlfriends, and marks.

But lo and behold, during the spring semester of his Intermediate Game Theory Combat class, he finally met his nearly-ideal friend. Her name was Gunn Yage; she liked all the things he liked (programming, hacking, and greasy chips) and hated all things he hated (animals and the New Republic)…minus one teensy thing.

She loved nature.

His ten-year-old-self would've considered this a deal breaker, but the sixteen-year-old wanted a companion. Also, she hacked into a TIE fighter and controlled it with her pad; she wasn't caught and she also promised to teach him her trick on one condition:

He has to come along with her and her friends to Bakura for a week-long camping trip.

He hates nature and he knows that Bakura has a bunch of forests, which means he'll have to look at trees, walk on dirt, and most likely get bitten by a thousand insects. If he was a badass like his brother, he would've refused and then cursed her out for suggesting something so inane.

But no, he's Nat Thanisson, a computer wunderkind desperate for companionship and knowledge on how to successfully hack a TIE fighter. At best, he won't get horribly maimed by nature and will gain a friend and learn one of her secrets. At worst, he'll have to call his brother for a ride and then watch him kick Gunn's and her friends' asses.

 _It's only a week of stupid nature, but I can endure this. And besides, what can possibly go wrong?_

* * *

"Thanisson, isn't this place gorgeous?" Gunn practically purrs out like the revving of their shuttle's engine. He sees a sea of pine trees and well-trodden dirt paths; a breeze blows through the pine trees, making the green needle branches sway like a cantina dancer. He can smell the clean smoke of faraway campfires and hears the far-off roaring of a waterfall. It is nature at its finest.

And he already fucking hates it.

"You are correct." He hates nature, but it would be stupid of him if he didn't admit that this place looks picturesque and perfectly unassuming. Almost like Gunn in her civvies. She has on a tan jacket over a tight, black crop top and tight, black pants. Her boots crunches the pebbles beneath her feet; those same boots nearly broke his collarbone during their final exam for combat.

"Thanisson, do you always have to sound like a droid?" Jae Akura sniggers like he's telling a private joke. For all Nat knows, Akura probably mocks him behind his back at school. They do not share any classes together, but Nat is quite familiar with the rumors that Akura likes to have multiple girlfriends. He'd believe it; Akura has a confident air about him, even with his stupid hairstyle of having his black hair split down the middle, and has tan, bulging muscles that makes anyone turn their heads in his direction. Especially when he's wearing a tight, black shirt and equally tight, black pants.

"Storm, do you always have to sound like a dick?" Tev Rimon retorts with a lackadaisical grin on his easygoing face. Nat doesn't share any classes with him either, but he likes him. Rimon reminds him of his brother; they even share the same style of goatee.

"Crasher, Storm, you realize that the Captain will kill you both if you ruin this trip? Good, then shut it." Brodie Coburn gruffly warns them. Again, Nat doesn't share any classes with him, and he's secretly grateful for this. Coburn is a hulking giant of muscle; he's the kind of person that Nat knows would give his brother trouble and perhaps a broken jaw with one punch.

"At ease, Cannon." Gunn teasingly orders. Nat feels out of the place at the easy camaraderie between the four. But then again, they all are training to be pilots and share almost all of their classes together. Gunn is the only one out of the four them who is taking classes in command; she has aspirations of being more than just a pilot, hence her nickname.

"So….how long to the c-campsite?" _Pfassk, wait to sound like a meek rent-boy!_ Nat could almost slap himself for his stutter. He doesn't normally stutter, but he is sandwiched between Coburn and Akura. Two people who could actually beat the crap out of him before he can get a punch in. Most of the students in Nat's classes are built like him; muscular enough to pass their combat tests but probably aren't going to see any actual combat.

"It's about a thirty minute walk, but I heard about this haunted shrine that's a little ways from the campsite. So, up for a little unscheduled detour?" Gunn flashes him a perfectly, pearly white smile. Nat does not want to go to a haunted shrine; he's not superstitious, but he's seen enough holofilms to know what happens to a bunch of idiot teenagers who go to anywhere remotely haunted. They die.

That being said, he does not want to chicken out. He knows that most of them, and perhaps even Gunn, expect him to give an excuse or logically explain why they shouldn't waste valuable daylight going to a place that might be crawling with crazed cultists.

"Sure, why not?" And with that, he's pretty certain that he just sealed his own fate with those words.

* * *

It takes them forty-five minutes to get there. And by the time they got there, Nat just wanted to keel over and die. His cheeks are burning, not from embarrassment at nearly falling flat on his face three times on the way over here, but because the sun hates him. He knows that he applied enough sunblock on the shuttle to ensure his pale skin ample protection from the evil rays of the sun. Apparently, the lotion wasn't strong enough and now his cheeks are red as bloody Darth Maul.

"Wow, Cherry Cheeks, congrats on still being alive. Really thought you were going to crack your skull open after your last fall." Nat is very grateful that his cheeks are already red because now he's feeling embarrassment. Of course _Storm_ would be the one to pay attention to his falls.

"Thanisson isn't training to be a pilot or a trooper, so endurance is not required of him." Coburn states flatly. Nat knows that Coburn isn't being mean; he's just stating a simple fact in an unflattering way.

"Kriff, this place sure has some creepy crow statues." He thought the shrine would be like most shrines he seen where they're about the size of a 'fresher; this one is almost the size of a small cottage, but it certainly didn't look like a small cottage. It's a pyramid made of black stones; the black stones remind him of a black hole sucking the light of the universe. The only hint of color on the pyramid are the two stripes of red running down the pyramid like tears of blood.

"Actually, those are ravens. Ravens are bigger than crows and tend to travel in pairs rather in flocks. Also, crows make a cawing sound, while ravens make low, croaking sounds." Immediately, all four of them give him a very poignant look.

"Nerd." Of course, Akura is the one who says it. Nat chooses not to give him any attention and stares at the statues. There are two statues, both are life-sized and 65 centimeters tall, and they are black stone ravens flanking the sides of the pyramids like sentinels. Nat can understand why Rimon finds the statues creepy; it's the amount of detail on making the feathers, the beak, and the eyes, look so real like the statues might actually be alive.

"Aside from the lifelike statues, how is this place haunted? I don't see any bones hanging around here. Nor do I see a sign that says: 'Blood offerings only.'" Nat is sort of disappointed by this so-called haunted shrine. Sure, it looks like a set from a B-list horror holo, but there's nothing really scary about it. There's no ghostly whisperings, no old witches screaming that they're going to die, and even the statues aren't moving their stone eyes like living paintings in haunted mansions.

"Well, the brochure claimed—is that pyramidion moving?" Gunn points up at the top of the pyramid. The black stone at the top is shifting like a beast awakening after its thousand year-long slumber. Wings unfurl from the top and reveal the jutting, black beak of a raven. The raven spreads out his nearly two meter-long wings like its daring any of the humans to come closer. His black eyes are shifting, evaluating the humans before him like a killer searching a crowd for his next victim.

"I don't think crows are supposed to be that big." Akura's comment comes out as a whisper like he's almost afraid that the bird will attack him if he speaks any louder. Nat almost smiles at Akura's fear. This is why Nat doesn't considers birds to be animals. Animals are usually fur-covered, slobbery things that like to make him sneeze or scratch at his legs.

"Raven." Coburn grunts out almost quietly. He too clearly doesn't want to hold the raven's attention.

"Should we just leave, Captain?" Rimon softly asks. His honey-brown eyes are looking at Gunn for orders.

"It's just a stupid bird." Gunn remarks loudly. The raven immediately swivels his head towards and narrows his black eyes. She crouches down and picks up a black, smooth pebble with the intention of hurling it at the raven.

" ** _Wonk-wonk_**!" Nat calls to the raven. Bird calling is a hobby of his and a surprisingly useful one when he used it to signal to his brother that a mark was close by. The raven immediately turns his attention to Nat.

" ** _Wonk-wonk_**!" Nat steps closer this time and sees the talons of the raven, almost seven centimeters in length. They also look sharp enough to leave deep scratches on human flesh, particularly the face. Like Gunn's flawless face.

" ** _Wonk-wonk_**!" The raven finally moves; he flaps his wings and takes off. For a second, Nat believes the raven is actually going to leave. He soars high for half a second and then swoops down like he is about to catch his prey, but he then decides to tumble mid-fall. But then he climbs up again, and this is when Nat decides to look away, confident that the raven is now gone.

"What is it—LOOK OUT!" Nat is damn certain that he has lost partial hearing in his right ear thanks to Akura. He sees the rest of the group quickly scramble away from the pyramid and he's at a loss to why they would do this.

And then he turns his attention back to the pyramid and sees a black mass with very sharp claws hurtling towards him.

 _Not the eyes, not the eyes!_ Nat feels his body freeze in place like some invisible chains keeping him from instinctually running away. He closes his eyes, hoping that he won't need facial reconstruction surgery.

" ** _Wonk_**!" Nat believes this might be the last sound he hears before inevitably being clawed to death by a raven. He feels the claws sink into his shoulder like a love bite. It hurts but not as agonizingly as he imagined.

" ** _Wonk_**!" And Nat feels like he has lost partial hearing in his left ear now. Then, he feels the claws tightening on his boney left shoulder. He finally turns his head and opens his eyes to see the raven perched on his left shoulder.

The raven's curved beak, like a hook blackened by rust, gently taps him on the nose. The raven does not peck him, nip at him, or bite him. The raven continues to tap on his nose, a bit harder than before, like he is pestering Nat for reciprocation. Nat awkwardly responds with bumping the tip of his snub nose with the curved beak of the raven.

" ** _Wonk_**." The raven's call doesn't sound angry to Nat; it sounds oddly soft. Well, as soft as a raven's voice can be. The raven ceases his tapping and decides to use his beak to reach for a strand, wild blond lock. Nat inwardly curses himself for not using hair gel; he didn't even bother to bring any on this trip because he thought nature, like rain or wind, was just going to ruin his hair.

"Please, don't pull on it." Nat brokenly whispers. The raven puts the wild strand behind Nat's round ear. Then, the raven pulls back and stares into his eyes.

"D-Do you want me to pet you?" The raven does not nod like a brainless parrot, but he does soften his grip on Nat's throbbing shoulder. Nat takes that as a yes and uses his left hand to gently stroke the raven's head; the raven lets out a pleased trill.

 _This is kind of cute_. Nat feels like a blushing schoolgirl for thinking that. Then, again, he's wearing a magenta-plaid shirt with matching pants; if his hair was longer then he might actually look like a schoolgirl.

The raven unhooks himself from Nat's shoulder and takes off. This time the raven repeats its dance from earlier but chooses to leave instead of latch onto Nat's abused shoulder again. The raven becomes a small dark star on the horizon.

"Did you just get hit on by a bird?" Rimon snorts as he asks. Nat ignores him and keeps his attention on the fading presence of the raven.

"You need to get that wound dressed." Coburn finally speaks up. Nat looks at his left shoulder and sees eight tears left behind by the raven. The scratches are welling with blood and stinging madly.

"Please, tell me one of you brought a med kit." Silence elapses. Nat sighs and hopes that the wound doesn't get infected.

"Cheer up, fresh air and sunshine should do the trick." Gunn claps him on the back with a grin on her face. The rest of the group begin to grin at one another. Nat just sighs again.

"Let's just get to the campsite." Nat trudges lifelessly from the shrine with the others following suit.

No one sees the raven makes his return to the pyramid. Nor do they see that the raven is sporting red eyes.

* * *

It is nightfall by the time they reach the campsite, and Nat, once again, is ready to keel over and die. He, at least, isn't hungry since they stopped about five times on the way over here to snack and drink (honestly, he had better beer at cantinas) like the teenagers that they are. Sadly, Akura became even more of a vocal asshole as the result from all the drinking. Thankfully, Corde and Rimon have no problem making him shut up.

 _Six more days till freedom!_ Nat nearly cries out. His shoulder is stinging like crazy; it doesn't help that Akura, on their third stop and after half a bottle of Csilla vodka, decided to dump the other half of his bottle of vodka on his wound, claiming that vodka makes great disinfectant. It was extremely satisfying watching Gunn deck the cocky bastard.

Nat turns his head to watch Gunn set up his tent. _She's so kindhearted, and smart, and has a mean right hook!_ He hears Akura grumbling about the bruise on his chiseled jaw. _Why don't you put some vodka on that, Storm?_ Nat is grinning.

"Yo, Nat, go get me some water from the well. I really need something to wash out the ashy taste of Mustafar whiskey." Rimon gently requests as he's pitching his tent. He throws his canteen at Nat and he fumbles it before catching it. Nat wants to groan; he really doesn't have the energy to climb up a hill, which seems like a miniature mountain to him, and haul a bucket of water back to camp. However, he is literally doing nothing but catching his breath, while everyone else, including Akura, is doing something like Coburn chopping up about a week's worth of firewood.

"Okay." He hears himself grumble like when his brother would order him to get his computer parts off the table. He hauls himself up from the grass and begins his ten-minute trek to the well. On Bakura, there are enough wells on the planet to ensure that even the dimmest tourist won't die from dehydration.

The well looks ancient with its crumbling stones and thatch roof; he wonders if this well is as old as the shrine and if the water is clean. _Well, I hope this doesn't give Rimon dysentery_. Nat goes to the ancient crank and begins to wind up the bucket. He immediately hates this well because every time he lets go of the crank to give his sore arms a break, the crank would immediately unwind and the bucket would lower.

"Kriff this!" Nat almost kicks the well out of frustration. But he continues his nettlesome task, until, finally after five minutes, he finally has the bucket of water and sets it on the well's ledge. He reaches by his feet to grab Rimon's canteen.

" ** _Wonk!_** " Nat jumps away from the well and looks up to see a raven perched on the roof. He has red eyes.

"Wait, are you the same raven from before? Your talons do look familiar. Please, don't attack my shoulder again; I don't think I can handle another vodka shower." He is so glad that Akura, Rimon, Coburn, and even Gunn are not here to see him talking to a raven. He probably looks like some pathetic, lonely kid talking to a bird. The raven's red eyes bore into him; Nat wonders if he somehow pissed off the raven by speaking.

"O-Okay, I'll just go fill the canteen and leave." He nervously approaches the well, but then the raven unfurls his wings and opens his beak like he might let out a piercing wail. Nat hastily moves back, clearly afraid of being attacked. He feels his back hit something solid like a durasteel wall. The wall wraps its cool _arms_ around his waist.

Nat stupidly cranes his head back to get a look at the _wall_. He sees red eyes, eyes as red as the raven's, boring into him. There's a white face with long black hair and black paint on the jaw and across the eyes. Nat is at a loss for words; he's desperately trying to think of something to say, perhaps even his final words.

 _I accept thee…_

* * *

Nat stirs and winces at the bright flash of lights, the sight of red behind his closed lids. He bemoans the light hitting his fragile eyes; it takes him a minute to adjust to the light. He sees the pyramid from the shrine. He sees the ever-present raven sentinels watching him without a flicker of life in their eyes.

 _What the frak?_ Nat almost curses aloud when he finally focuses on his own body. He sees gray dust coating his skin like some kind of ritualistic paint. There are curves and swirls on his skin from the paint that make a silhouette of a demonic raven. The only place that the ashy paint doesn't cover is his groin, which he desperately wishes he had something other than his hands to cover, and his feet.

"Oh." Nat rasps out in surprise; his throat feels raw and coppery. His surprise comes from what he finds wrapped around his left ankle: a bracelet. It is a silver chain that wraps around his thin ankle and connects to his index and middle toes. It is inlaid with teardrops of rubies and diamonds, or at least with phony gemstones that look like those precious jewels, and it ends with a particularly fat ruby on top of his toes.

"How the pfassk did I get all the way over here?" He coughs and swears to himself that he won't speak aloud anymore. _Hells, it feels like I spent a whole night practicing speeches for Public Speaking again!_ He hated that class but it was required for those looking to command their own ship someday; the only good that came from the class made him realize that he doesn't want to be a General if it meant he had to make bi-weekly speeches.

Aside from the soreness of his throat, his body feels well-rested and limber. He gets up from the steps of the pyramid and heads back to camp. On his way there, he has two realizations. The first is that he has never been more grateful to the universe for not coming across anyone on his nearly fifty-minute trek. The second is that he's pretty certain he's just been cruelly pranked.

Akura is the prime suspect that comes to mind. After all, Akura has been an ass to him since the trip started and he seems like the type to do stupid pranks. However, he highly doubts someone as "manly" as Akura would go as far as to strip a guy of his clothes and paint him with what looks like firewood ash. Neither Rimon nor Coburn seem the type to do this. Gunn could be part of this prank; she likes pranks, as evident by her hijacking a TIE fighter, and she would be the only one in the group to have that kind of jewelry.

 _But why would she do this?_ Gunn has hurt him before but that was for combat class, and she even apologized to him after class. She's not naturally mean-spirited, unless he counted the time she punched some upperclassmen named Umano in the face for no apparent reason, and it's not like he had a fight with her to warrant this sort of mischief.

 _I'll get my answer when I reach camp._ It takes him ten more minutes to reach camp. When he gets there, he sees that all of the tents are gone. He also sees bottles of beer and vodka strewn about like dirty laundry and he sees Coburn's hill of chopped firewood for the fire pit. He sees his brown bag with his comlink and clothes in the fire pit. Finally, he sees red.

 _THOSE DICKS!_ Nat has to cover his mouth to prevent himself from screaming. He rushes over to the fire pit and pulls out his bag; he rummages through the front pocket and finds his comlink. He immediately calls up his brother.

"You owe me fifty credits." Cade's husky voice cheerlessly greets him. Before going on the camping trip, he and his brother made a bet. Cade bet that he wouldn't last the week and his so-called "friends" would abandon him, and he was absolutely right.

"Shut it, swashbuckler, and get me off this Force-forsaken hellhole!" Nat practically growls into his comlink, almost regretting exhausting his already sore throat. He literally hears his older brother's smug smile on the other end.

"Give me about two hours, surely, it wouldn't kill you to survive another two hours in the wilderness, would it, Ossus?" Nat bristles at his ill-earned nickname. He decides to shut his comlink off without saying another word in protest. He puts his comlink back in his bag and decides to head to the nearby well.

 _Frak nature, frak Cade, frak Akura, frak Rimon, frak Coburn, and frak Gunn!_ Nat colorfully curses out in his mind while making his way to the well. When he reaches the well, he feels a sense of déjà vu come over him. He knows he was here before; he remembers coming here to fill up Rimon's canteen. He remembers how much his arms ached from trying to haul up the bucket.

 _Did something else happen? Something must've happened because I don't remember walking all the way back to the shrine. How long was I out?_ He takes out his comlink and checks for today's date. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees that _today's_ date is actually one of three days later.

 _What happened to me? Did someone drug my beer or something? Maybe, after putting those stupid scribbles on me, they thought I died, panicked, and dumped my body on the shrine. That seems like something someone as stupid as Akura would do!_ Nat makes up his mind to try and forget about all this. He believes that in a couple of years he'll look back and shake his head at how stupidly trusting he was. Until then, he washes off the ash-paint and takes off the anklet. He almost tosses the anklet into the well out of childish spite.

 _You need to keep this._ Nat jumps away from the well and looks around for the source of the voice. He sees nothing but grass and tall pines. He decides to put the anklet in his bag.

 _It's probably going to be the nicest piece of jewelry I'll ever get to keep._ Nat rationalizes. After he puts on some clean underwear and his clothes, he heads back to the camp. He doesn't even look up to see a raven sporting red eyes hovering over him.

 _I'll come back for thee._

* * *

 **Author's Comments-** Oh, Thanisson, even in this life ravens aren't good for you. I was tempted to name him Jojen after the actor's _Game of Thrones_ character, but I decided against it because it seemed to on the nose. Instead, _Nat Thanisson_ comes from _Nat Skywalker_ the brother of Kol Skywalker who is the father of Cade Skywalker. Speaking of Cade, this Cade in the story is actually _Cade Skywalker_ but he is actually known as _Cade Corde_ and he's Thanisson's older half-brother and he's no way related to the Skywalker lineage in this story and in my headcanon.

Also, _Darth Nihl_ is _Nihl Ren_ in this story and in my headcanon. I figured recycling and then tweaking characters from the debunked Expanded Universe would be much simpler than generating my own OCs. However, I would like to formerly apologize to those who are strict adherents to the Expanded Universe, particularly of _Star Wars: Legacy_ , because I'm going to take those characters and mostly fuck them up from your certain point of view.

Also, here's a link to Thanisson's foot jewelry:  . 


	2. Preparation

Hatchling Chapter One

* * *

Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Falling by Julee Cruise

* * *

Graduating from the Academy at twenty and getting his first assignment on the prestigious _Finalizer_ with the illustrious General Hux helming it is the second luckiest break that Thanisson has ever got. And this time it is by his own merit and not through his brother's badassery. So far, his stay abroad the _Finalizer_ has been pleasant and far better than his lonesome Academy days.

Hells, by the end of his first day he was invited to go drinking in the Officer's Lounge by the newly-minted Chief Petty Officer Umano. It ended with him going to Umano's room with Captain Phasma for late-night margaritas (which he's pretty certain that they stole from Lieutenant Mitaka's room) and girl-talk. And by girl-talk, he learns that those two have no qualms about being candid about _everything_. Needless to say, he has been forever traumatized by those two, especially when it comes to even _thinking_ about sex, and he's pretty certain that they're the ones running the First Order Betting Pool.

 _Stars, I wondered if they were the ones who made those sick sexual bets like Kylo Ren and General Hux—Hells, I puked up my grape-flavored margarita all over Umano's rug at the mere implication of those two together!_ Thanisson not-so fondly remembers his first (and last) night in Umano's room as he exits the Officer's Lounge with alcohol-flushed cheeks.

 _I wonder how Mitaka had margaritas. Does he have_ _his own margarita machine? He did mention that his wife is a bartender, so maybe it was a gift from his wife? I wonder what his wife looks like. Probably quiet and a bit skittish like him. He doesn't seem like the type to like bold women. Then again, he doesn't seem like the type to own a margarita machine!_ Thanisson hiccups slightly and is glad that no one is in the hall to hear his telltale drunken slip. Even though he is forever banned from Umano's room, unless ordered otherwise by General Hux, Umano and Phasma have no problems with drinking with the fresh-faced petty officer in the lounge.

 _They only drink with me because they want to see the youngest (unless someone has brought a kid or baby on board) person on Finalizer make a drunken fool out of himself. Well, sucks to be them! I was raised on Corellian brandy until Cade's girlfriend pretty much put a stop to that. I think her name was Azlyn or was it Talon? Nope, nope, Talon was that red Twi'lek that tried to get him join some cult. It was Azlyn Rae. I liked her. Wonder whatever happened to her?_ Although, Thanisson will admit he is a bit tipsy. He really should have not challenged Phasma to a shot contest. Phasma soundly beat him, but his consolation is that she's going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.

Thanisson almost shambles his way to his room and sloppily punches in the codes to his door. The door slides open and he steps right in his dimly lit room. _Good thing I preemptively set the lights to about 30% before heading out._ He can't really see more than a couple of centimeters in front of him with the lack of light, but he congratulates himself for making it to his tiny refresher without tripping. He pulls off his boots and tosses them near his bed. He then strips out of his clothes and puts them into the laundry basket.

He showers and brushes his teeth, trying to get rid of the telltale stench of alcohol oozing from his pores and mouth. He sobers up slightly and hopes that he remembered to set the alarm for about an hour and thirty minutes earlier than he normally wakes up. He wants to head to medbay in the morning for the much needed medication to get rid of his potential hangover. And medbay is usually quick in giving him what he needs since the doctors know he's drinking buddies with Umano and Phasma. Plus, he wants to grab some fresh caf.

He dries himself with his towel and heads straight to his bed. He feels hot, so he doesn't feel like wearing anything tonight. _Besides, who else is going to see me naked? The raven? Wait….why is there a raven on my bed?_

Right on his single bed with just the one white pillow and blue sheets is a raven. The raven, perched at the end of his bed, has red eyes and is staring at him. _Oh, I'm hallucinating again. It's just like last month when I thought I saw the General holding hands with some blonde radar technician. The barkeep must've added some hallucinogens to the shots or something!_

Thanisson just sleepily shrugs and gets into his bed; the imaginary raven doesn't move a centimeter as the blonde gets himself comfortable. Thanisson lets out a yawn and feels his eyes flutter close.

"Hey, raven, would you please turn off the lights." Thanisson jokingly requests before finally going to sleep. He smiles slightly when he thinks he hears the beat of wings. _Nighty night, raven._

 _Goodnight._

* * *

Thanisson shifts and groans as he hears his alarm go off like a proton bomb. He wants to curl into himself and just die. _Stupid alarm, but stupider me for drinking last night! I solemnly swear to never challenge Captain Phasma to a shot contest ever again!_ He twists out of his sheets and hurries to silence the near-deafening alarm. He immediately trips over his boots that he didn't bother to put away last night. He lands face-first on the unforgivingly hard floor.

"Ow, lights 30%!" The pitch darkness lessens a bit, but, thankfully, doesn't go completely away. _I don't think my hungover eyes could handle the lights at 100%, but at least I can see where the boots are._ He quickly scrambles to his room's panel and silences the alarm. _Why didn't I ever get around to programming the alarm to be shut down verbally? Oh that's right, I'm like Cade and if I used vocal commands then I would just go right back to sleep! Hold on, did I turn off the lights last night? I don't remember hitting the switch nor verbally commanding it off, but I must've…_

He quickly shuffles his way to the 'fresher to do his morning routine and take one-last-getting-rid-of-any-booze-residue-shower. _Stars, I hope that Umano doesn't smell the alcohol on me. Then again, she was at the lounge chanting, "Chug, chug, chug!" at me and Phasma, but she does have an appearance to maintain on the bridge. Hells forbid that Mitaka catches any whiff of alcohol on me, he'd lecture the shit out of me even though I am of age!_

Thanisson strolls of his 'fresher while rubbing his restless dirty-blonde locks dry with a fluffy white towel; once again, he is completely nude and does not give a damn since there is no one else in the room. He heads to his closet which is only half a meter from his small bed.

"Hey, raven." Thanisson says quickly as he walks by his bed. Then, he halts mid-stride and turns his head to fully acknowledge that a raven is perched at the end of his messy bed. _Wait a minute, why is there a raven in my bed? When did he get here? I thought I just imagined the raven last night! Oh shit, what do I do!?_

"Uh, haven't we met before? Back on Bakura….wait, your eyes are red. I don't think your eyes were red back then…but they look familiar." Thanisson feels something scratching against his mind; he knows that he has seen those eyes before, but his mind lacks the memory of it. _It's the raven from the creepy pyramid; the same one that would've clawed Gunn's pretty face._ He frowns at thought of Gunn; he thought they were friends, but she abandoned him with her goonies. He was so glad that when the fall semester started up again that Gunn wasn't in any of his classes. In fact, he can't recall seeing Gunn at all after Bakura.

" ** _Croak_**." The raven responds with a nostalgic cry. A sharp pain erupts in Thanisson's mind and he clutches the sides of his head. The room dissipates like smoke; he sees the black pyramid back on Bakura. He sees himself with the ash markings covering his entire nude form; his head is lolling to the side and his brown eyes are dilated and look almost black. There is a pale figure with long, black hair kneeling at his feet; his eyes are as red as the raven's. He slips the silver anklet, the same one adorned with rubies and diamonds, onto Thanisson's left ankle. He then quickly stands up and faces the pyramid.

 ** _"_** ** _My eternal gratitude to thee, Bogan, for my betrothed. I will cherish him proper once he has grown, and then I will come back for him, to complete our espousal. Love is the darkest of passions, and we will have Love!"_**

Thanisson feels it, the darkness, cool and collected like ice, touch his mind like a lover's caress.

* * *

 _Thanisson._

 _Thanisson…_

 ** _Thanisson!_**

 ** _CROAK!_**

Thanisson sits up immediately and feels his lungs heaving like he took a lap around the _Finalizer_. All he can see is his bed with the raven perched at the end looking at him with his red eyes. Those red eyes are identical to the pale figure's eyes; they tear apart his body to find the fragile soul cowering against his bones. He shivers and breaks out into cold sweat.

 _Was that a dream? But that was me from four years ago! Was that how I got to the pyramid? Did that strange man carry me there? By his sharp looks, pale skin, and black hair, I would say he was a Nagai. But what was a Nagai doing on Bakura? And why was talking like an Ancient? Was he some kind of method actor that was supposed to play some cultist warrior? Wait a minute, how long was I out?_ Thanisson scrambles to his room's control panel to check out the chrono.

"It's _1200_! OH NO! Umano is going to kill me! Lights 90%!" Thanisson's eyes take about a minute to adjust to the sudden harsh light, but he quickly heads to his closet. He puts his uniform on in a matter of minutes and is just getting his boots on when his pad begins to flash incessantly.

 _Pfassk, it must be Umano messaging me that she's going to dock my pay for not showing up for my shift!_ Thanisson picks up his pad and pales instantly. The message is from General Hux. The General Hux. And what's even worse is that the message is ominously written, _"Come to my office at 1230."_

 _My first kriff up and I'm probably going to be booted from the ship because of it! He's probably going to give me a well-deserved chew out before jettisoning me into space via airlock! I wonder if Cade will actually pay me now since I am an adult…_ Thanisson does not look forward to all the running that will entail if he goes back to working for his brother.

"Oh sithspit…getting to Hux's kriffing office takes at least thirty minutes! Hells, I hope the Stormtroopers don't mind if I pushed them out of my way; they should be conditioned for that by now thanks to Kylo Ren…" Thanisson hurries to door but halts to turn his attention to the raven.

"Please, don't misbehave while I'm out!" It's half-joke and half-plead from the harried petty officer. The raven cocks his head in mild confusion. _Great, now the raven thinks I'm the crazy one!_ Thanisson hurries out the door and prays to the Force that the General is in a merciful, non-firing mood today.

* * *

It is the second time today that Thanisson feels his lungs heaving like overworked engines; he decided to sprint to Hux's office rather than take the normal thirty-minute walk. He would've gotten to the office in under twenty minutes if not for his misfortune of bumping into Captain Phasma. Actually, _bumping in_ is more of misnomer since, for Thanisson's scrawny body, it was more like he crashed into a durasteel wall going Mach 1. Now, he arrives to the office with barely a minute to spare and his body feeling thoroughly bruised.

 _I made it; I really need to lift weights and eat more protein because my birdy body is far too fragile for another encounter with Phasma's harden form. Thank the Stars that I didn't run into Kylo Ren; he would've certainly Force-choked me and then diced me with his lightsaber! Now, I empathize with Mitaka's fears about the unstable Force-user._ Thanisson quickly brushes off whatever dust and grime he accumulated from his little tumble to the floor. He wants to look quite presentable and much like what a petty officer is expected to be. He gives a courteous tap on the door, inwardly praying that Hux might not be in his office and completely forgot about the appointment today.

"You may enter." _Pfassk…damn, I forgot to tidy up my hair! Maybe the General will get a laugh from my wild hair and decide not to fire me…I'm so kriffed!_ Thanisson enters with his back perfectly straight and his shoulders square, looking like a perfect example of a low-ranking officer. Inwardly, he's curled into a fetal position and rocking himself back and forth like a baby.

"Have a seat, Petty Officer Thanisson." _He doesn't sound pissed. But then again, he's the kind of man who is slow to anger. And my brother taught me to fear those kind of men._ Thanisson follows the General's polite order and takes his black leather seat. Five seconds pass like five years for Thanisson before the General decides to speak again.

"Thanisson, did you notice anything peculiar in your room?" _What?_ Thanisson has to stop himself from staring dumbly at the General. _No comment on my dishevel hair, my absence on today's shift, no thinly-veiled threats about jettisoning me into space? What the kriff!?Oh shit, he's waiting for an answer! Say something, stupid!_

"P-Peculiar in what way?" Thanisson wants to punch himself in the face for sounding so bewildered before the steadfast general. _Is he insinuating that I have contraband? Or is he trying to tell me that Kylo Ren murdered some poor Stormtrooper and tossed his body in my room, but Sanitation came to clean it all up and he's just making sure that they didn't miss a blood spot? Or is he referring to the raven? Yeah, it's probably the raven._

"The security feed for your hallway, particularly the one outside of your room, experienced a _malfunction_ at exactly 2232 last night. It wasn't until 2245 when the _malfunction_ ceased and the security feed was restored. However, exactly ten minutes before the security feed ceased, a Knight of Ren was walking towards your hallway with a _peculiarity_." Thanisson wishes that the General would show him the security feed because he's literally having trouble processing and picturing the information. _A Knight of Ren? Doesn't he mean Kylo Ren? No, he would've just used his name. Or maybe Kylo Ren is a woman under all that getup…I don't want to think about that anymore!_ _Then again, he, or she, is the Master of the Knights of Ren, so obviously there is more than one Knight of Ren. And considering how little information there is in regards to said Knights, perhaps the General doesn't know which Knight of Ren was stalking towards my room. Or maybe he knows nothing about the Knights of Ren like everyone else on the ship? Nah, I would imagine they're pretty hard to tell apart if they dress like their Master._

"A raven, sir. I found a raven in my room last night, but I thought I was hallucinating it after…having some drinks in the Officer's Lounge. This morning, it turned out it was very real and I kind of collapsed and missed my shift, sir." Thanisson decides to momentarily look down in shame. _Okay, I omitted a few details like the shot contest and the trippy vision I had, but those aren't really important. I hope._

"Well, that would explain the black feathers found around the ship. But I did not call you in here to further question the strangeness of last night. I called you in here because Lord Ren has a mission for you." Thanisson feels his heart drop through his stomach and down onto the General's freshly sanitized floor. He feels himself shaking in his boots. _Oh no, I'm going to be part of some virgin sacrifice ritual! Calm down, Nat, there's no way that Lord Ren has the au—oh, who am I kidding? He'll do whatever the Hells he wants and all the General can do is give him a stern lecture! I wish I was getting fired instead!_

"What does the mission entail, sir?" Thanisson feels the words leave his mouth like a droid with a bad processing unit. He is sincerely wondering if it was too late to quit the First Order and join up with his brother in his highly illegal business. _Perhaps, this mission is the General punishing me for my indiscretions? He found out from Umano about my late-night activities and wants to set an example with me. It's not my fault that I seem to be the only one on this damn ship who can hold my own against Phasma and Umano!_

"This is all that Lord Ren is _willing_ to give me: you are to spend one standard week on Ziost with Lord Ren and one of his Knights. No one else." Thanisson pales into a deathly shade of white. _Isn't Ziost one of those Sith Empire worlds or something? Oh shit, this is what I get for just fake paying attention in Ancient Civilizations class! And I'm going to be alone with Kylo Ren and some random Knight who's probably as temperamental and lightsaber-happy as him. Or worse. I'm obviously going to be sacrificed to the Sith Gods or something. I'm going to die._

"But who will take us there? It's such an out of the way place, sir." Thanisson prays that _No one else_ part is excluding pilots with very functional comlinks and medkits filled with bacta patches.

"Lord Ren will you take there in his personal command shuttle." _Is this how it feels when your doctor tells you that have terminal disease and only a month to live? I feel like all of my panic, sadness, anger, and fear are just expanding like a bubble. And once it pops, I'll just die a horrible, horrible death._ Thanisson congratulates himself for not breaking down in front of the General. He plans to do that in the privacy of his own room; he hopes that the raven won't judge him for it.

"When will I get back from the mission, sir?" _It's more if than when, but I'm still doomed!_ Thanisson wants to moan and bury his head into his shaking hands.

"It is supposed to last a standard week. I can only hope that Lord Ren believes in punctuality." Thanisson gets this strange, tiny feeling that the General was trying to lighten the grim atmosphere in the room. He doesn't believe that the General is capable of comfort. Like Kylo Ren.

"When am I supposed to leave, sir?" _I was planning to write out my will after my first year was over, to see how life aboard the ship was. I guess I can give Phasma and Umano my shampoo since they always complimented me for smelling like peaches and cream, and the rest can go to Cade._ Thanisson almost laughs hysterically at his lackluster will. Right now, he looks quite grim.

"Today, at exactly 1500. Lord Ren thought it would be an adequate enough time for you to get your things in order." Thanisson sees General Hux grimace. _Even he knows that this is a suicide mission. Or rather a homicide!_

"Thank you, sir. It has been a…fleeting pleasure…" Thanisson cannot bring himself to continue speaking. He's a bundle of raw, dejected nerves at this point. _I don't want to go!_

"Thanisson, there is a way for you not to go on this mission. Would you like to know how?" Thanisson vigorously nods his head, completely forgetting how rude it is to not give your commanding officer a verbal answer.

"I can fake your death." A pregnant silence ensues. Thanisson feels like he's been trapped in a surreal dream where his commanding officer is offering to commit treason in order to spare his subordinate's life.

"Sir?" Thanisson manages to croak out. General Hux looks tense as though he were trying to defuse a bomb.

"Lord Ren will most likely not allow you to refuse this mission, as he'd view it as a personal slight against him. However, if you were dead, then you logically would be unable to undertake the mission. I can have this done within the hour and set you up with a new identity. And considering your own familial connections, I would say that you would fare well in a smuggler's life." _Oh, he knows about Cade! Well, it seems like he's thought this through. And it's not like I have any friends that will grieve for me; Umano and Phasma might drink to my memory but they'll get over me. Wait, why would he do this for me? Is this some sort of test of my loyalties?_

"Um, sir, what you are suggesting can be considered treasonous. And if found out, high command could use this against you and launch an investigation. Although, K—Lord Ren would most likely respond far more apace and lethally than them. With all due respect, sir." Thanisson can see a spark of mischief, the same spark that he has seen in his brother's eyes when he was about to unleash some hell, flare in the General's watery eyes. _Wait a tick, I think his eyes are actually green. No, no, they look blue. I could've sworn I saw some green in there. This is not the time to be pondering the General's true eye color!_

"I am well aware of Lord Ren's temperament and of the high command's hauteur. However, I would be quite displeased to find out that Lord Ren killed you during the mission in one of his anger fits. You are one of the few individuals in the Order who possess impressive programming skills and hacking capabilities, while also having a certain older brother who tends to cause trouble for the New Republic." Thanisson swears that he just saw the General's pale lips twitch into a one-second smirk. _Holy shit, he totally knows about my brother! But how? When? Where? No, no, I really can't wonder about that now!_

"Thank you, sir, for that assessment, but I am more concerned about the consequences if I do accept your gracious offer. I am your subordinate and one of my duties is to follow the orders of my commanding officer while ensuring my commanding officer's wellbeing. If I accepted, your life and your rank could be on the line." _Stars, did I just kind of stand up to the General? No, I just reminded him that his life is more important than mine! Granted, there are Generals who could take his place, but I'm pretty certain he's one of the few that can stand up to Kylo Ren. Also, it would be quite a blow for our "unofficial" alliance with the Chiss Ascendancy if Grand Admiral Thrawn was to suddenly lose his friend._ Thanisson has to bite his tongue to keep himself from blurting out that last part.

"Oh, I have contingency plans in place if such an event were to occur. But, more importantly, do you accept this mission?" The General expertly waves off Thanisson's concern like Cade does whenever his girlfriend, at the time, asks for a deeper commitment. Thanisson once against bites his tongue to prevent himself from instinctually shouting, _"Hells no!"_

"Yes, sir." Thanisson isn't sure if he's giving an honest answer since barely a second ago his mind was roiling with rejection. _And it appears that the General doubts the validity of my answer too._ The General's watery eyes narrow into near-slits, which, for some reason, remind Thanisson of holos of Emperor Palpatine. _I wonder if the General would take that as a compliment. Probably not, since being compared to the crazed Sith Lord has as much tact as calling someone a whore._

"It seems that I must reiterate the points that I have made. There is a high chance that you will be killed or at least missing a few limbs by mission's end. You will be alone with Lord Ren and his Knight of Ren, who is completely loyal to him, for a standard week or possibly even longer if Lord Ren is feeling disobedient. I cannot help you once you accept the mission. So, I will ask once more: do you accept this mission?" Thanisson sucks in recycled air, feeling his lungs gloriously expand. He relishes the air in his lungs because Kylo Ren could easily take it away from him.

He exhales.

"Yes, I do accept this mission, sir." Thanisson immediately stands up and leaves without the General's permission. He knows that if he heard one more word out of his commanding officer's mouth he would've rescinded his answer. He heads to his room with one, simple goal in mind: to pack for his mission without crying.

* * *

When he reaches his quarters, his eyes are immediately drawn to his bed. He sees the raven on top of his beaten, gray pack; he can see that the normally thin bag is nearly bursting. It clicks suddenly in his mind that the raven packed all his things for him while he was out.

He sucks in recycled air, and feels the air hitch in his throat.

He falls to his knees and cries.

* * *

 **Author's Comments-** _Hatchling_ can be considered set in the future of _Matt the Friend_ series, but you don't have to read _Matt the Friend_ to understand what's going on or vice versa. All of this takes place more than a year before the events of TFA because I always thought in the movie that Thanisson looked really young like twenty-one or something, so I went for twenty for this story. There's about an eight-year difference between him and Hux because I like to believe that Hux is actually a lot younger than he looks, and I don't like to take in the actor's age into consideration except when estimating age differences between characters.

Back to Thanisson, I started off with humor, or at least it seemed quite funny to me, and ended it with the poor lad having a bit of a breakdown. I hope that the tone shift wasn't too jarring because I wanted to try my hand at humor but also at juxtaposing that with fear. Let's face it if you were a normal person, at least in _Star Wars_ terms, like Thanisson, you'd be scared shitless too to be left alone with a known telepathic and telekinetic man with a shit ton of issues plus his lackey. But if you read the tags, then you know what's going to happen. But, sadly, Thanisson doesn't and is now a crying mess.


	3. Courtship

Hatchling Chapter Two

* * *

Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Beauty and the Beast by Nightwish

* * *

The first thing that Thanisson notices about the hangar is how surprisingly empty it is. He knows, from personal experience, hangars are a place to refuel, chat, and mend your crappy ship while being jammed with people and cargo. In the First Order, it's largely the same, but the ships are new and First Order pilots seem to tittle-tattle more than regular pilots and smugglers. However, he has walked by the _Finalizer's_ hangar plenty of times and it's always thrumming with activity and Stormtroopers.

 _Where did everyone go? It's not like all of the pilots have the same lunch break or work the same shift. Their ships are still here, so the General hasn't sent them all out on a mission. So why is it so kriffing empty!?_ Thanisson tightens his grip on his pack. The last time he was in hangar this empty was back at Ossus. _I really hope that Kylo Ren didn't secretly murder all the pilots…then again, I don't think he would do something that detrimental to the Order. But it is one of those long-running bets in the pool._

Thanisson rubs at his irritated eyes with his right forearm. He hopes that the redness from his crying fit is gone; he hopes that Kylo Ren does not notice how red his little button nose is. _I don't know why but crying in front of the raven sure feels like I hit rock bottom. Maybe I should've taken up on the General's offer. No, no, Nat, you can do this. You are a Petty Officer and you will perform your duty…And probably die during this mission. Shit, I forgot to write out my will! Well it's too late now; I'm already walking towards my demise!_

He's walking down the middle of the hangar and going exactly where Kylo Ren's command shuttle is located. He silently gulps as he sees the ship's wings raised like guillotine blades. He keeps his focus on the wings if only to avoid looking at his inevitable executioners. _Wow, way to be a coward, Nat!_

"Thanisson." Thanisson immediately snaps his attention from the wings to Kylo Ren. His eyes widen, against his will and protocol, like they were the demons on Ossus. Kylo Ren is not the one holding his attention, even though Thanisson know it's against protocol to not acknowledge a superior officer. His attention is focused on the…person by Kylo Ren's side. A person that he will privately call from now on the Raven Knight because of his mask.

The mask is far more dramatic, and far more sinister than Kylo Ren's mask. The mask is a face of a raven from Chaos. It's black and looks like it is made from a material that is both a metal and a leather; Thanisson presumes it's more the latter since he can see giant, silver bolts holding the mask together at the seams. The beak is almost fifteen centimeters long and curves inwardly at the very tip; it looks sharp enough to poke out a few eyes, or pluck out a heart.

The eyes of the mask are just giant sockets with a thin sheet of opaque, black glass covering them. He swears that he sees glowing red eyes staring directly at him. _Those eyes…I've seen them from somewhere. The raven, but he's back in my room. And ravens can't turn into men…..just like demons aren't supposed to exist. But they do. I saw them on Ossus._

The Raven Knight is wearing a black trench coat with a hood that reminds Thanisson of the Grim Reaper. The trench coat is tightly buttoned and shows the curvatures of the muscles bulging underneath. _He's as built as Cade…and Lord Ren. He could crush my skull with just a bicep!_ He nearly congratulates himself from not shivering in revulsion at that possible murder weapon.

"This is Nihl Ren." Kylo Ren does not gesture with his hand to Nihl Ren; Thanisson likes to believe that Kylo Ren doesn't think he's stupid enough not to recognize the knight that isn't Kylo Ren. _Stupid enough not to run when presented the opportunity…I wonder if General Hux is already looking for my replacement._

"Pleased to meet you, Lord Ren." _Hells, they're two Rens now…do I just address them both as Lord Ren? Or should I address Kylo Ren, Lord Co-Commander? Or maybe—_

"I am Lord Ren, while Nihl Ren will be 'Milord' to you." _Pfassk, they're Force-users! Of course, they can hear my thoughts! Quiet down, Nat! Okay, okay, at least I know how to properly address them now._ Thanisson calms himself once again; he didn't get his tongue cut out with a lightsaber for his little faux pas.

"Thank you, Lord Ren, for your correction. And once again, I am pleased to meet you, M'Lord." Immediately, Thanisson blushes when his carefully constructed-Core accent slips on the last word. _This is what I get from growing up with space pirates and bounty hunters; it's bad enough when I got corrected by the instructors for "mispronouncing" my words back in the Academy. Stupid Speech class._ Thanisson barely passed his Speech class back at the Academy; mostly due to his poor "enunciation" as the instructor called it.

Nihl Ren does not respond, and Thanisson quickly realizes that perhaps the Raven Knight may be mute. Or he could only communicate through the Force. _Or he simply doesn't want to talk with a commoner like me pretending to be highborn._ Thanisson feels like it's the latter. The Knights of Ren seem above everyone in the chain of command, except to maybe General Hux and most certainly to the Supreme Leader.

"Come now, Thanisson." _Well that was gentle…..kind of. Can't really tell through the voice modulator. It's better than "Get on the damn ship, Nat!"_ This time Thanisson nods his head so he doesn't fumble his words again. Kylo Ren takes the lead with Nihl Ren following right behind him. They were not looking at Thanisson.

 _I could run, but how far would I get? Maybe like ten centimeters before I get Force-choked for abandoning the mission. Better just accept my fate and hope that I don't die on this mission. Or lose a limb._ Thanisson follows just half a meter behind the Raven Knight.

He feels like he's following his murderer to his own gravesite.

* * *

Now, Thanisson remembers entering the ship, he remembers watching the leather-coated back of the Raven Knight, and he remembers the knight suddenly stopping. And then nothing. Absolutely nothing after that.

 _So how the Hells did I end up on this bed?_

Thanisson is currently on top of a bed, which is far more comfortable than his bed back on _Finalizer_ , with no recollection how he went from barely stepping on Kylo Ren's ship to ending up on top of the softest bed in the whole damn galaxy. And what's even worse than that memory gap, he realizes that he's been swaddled like a baby. Try as he might, he cannot wiggle himself out of the tight but fleecy blanket.

 _Wait, is the blanket pink!? No, wait, it's a bit darker like a magenta…..kind of like my old plaid shirt. Hold on, that's not important right now! HOW the HELLS did I get SWADDLED!? What, did Kylo Ren do it? Is this some kind of weirdo preparation ritual?! WHAT THE FRAK—_ Thanisson's mental tirade is interrupted by the sound of the door swishing open. Thanisson tries to sit up to see who just entered the room, but his binds does not allow him to sit up fully. At best, he's able to arch his back about a centimeter off of the bed.

"Uh, hello, is someone there?" _Great, Nat, just use the line that every dumb idiot in horror holos utter right before they get brutally murdered._ Thanisson knows he is just the perfect victim in this scenario: he's lying on his back like a turtle and cannot fight back. So odds are if someone just wanted to stab him repeatedly with a knife, or a lightsaber if he wants to be more realistic, they'll be able to do that without much trouble.

However, he is less worried about his own murder, and more concerned with who just walked into the room. Odds are it was probably one of the Knights of Ren; it does not matter which because they both have the same mind-reading powers that most Force-users have. It is very likely that they heard Thanisson's screaming, unflattering thoughts.

"…..Lord Ren? I'm really sorry….about my thoughts" _And please don't pfassking kill me!_ Thanisson feels like he's turning into Lieutenant Mitaka, a man he respects but is twitchier than a death stick addict. _I don't think Mitaka will ever recover from being Force-choked by Kylo Ren._

"…M'Lord, is that y-you?" Immediately, Thanisson feels himself being lifted up and comes face-to-face with Nihl Ren's raven mask. _Well…what do I say now? Should I even say anything?_ Once again, Thanisson locks eyes with the Raven Knight's. The red eyes are like ardent flames threatening to burn his mind if gets too froward.

"…M'Lord, would you, um, un-swaddle me?" _There goes my masculine pride. Did I have any to begin with? I used to wear dresses a lot when I was little, but that was because Cade got my clothes from stolen cargo. You know this might not be the best time to ponder what masculinity is._ Thanisson tries to wiggle out of the knight's hold, so the knight responds with tossing him over his shoulder like some sort of rolled-up rug. The knight begins to walk out of the room without any consideration towards Thanisson's feelings.

"M'Lord?" _What the Hells are you doing?_ Thanisson impolitely, tersely thinks. He is fed up with the silent treatment he's been given and he's certainly fed up with the strange "surprises" that have been sprung on him. He expected to die on this mission or at least get the shit beaten out of him. He did not want either of those things to happen, but at least they would've been in the realm of normalcy. _This, this isn't normal at all! I got swaddled like a baby and now I'm being carried around like a bag of fruit! I—what the frak is happening!?_

"M'Lord, I can't really _see_ what's going on." All Thanisson can see is the back of the black leather coat that the Raven Knight is wearing. _I don't think he's listening…I would really love to know what the Hells is going on! Or at least to get out of this swaddle!_ Thanisson pouts and feels like he's nine again and telling his disbelieving brother about the demons on Ossus.

"M'Lord, are you even listening to me!" Thanisson finally snaps at the knight. He finally gets a reaction from the knight; the knight stops midstride and decides to carry him bridal-style. _Well…I can see now._ He thinks with gratitude slightly coloring his thoughts.

"Thank you, M'Lord." Thanisson hears himself murmur. The Raven Knight resumes his walk until they finally reach a black metal door. _I don't think this leads to the control room because it's not a double-door like most Upsilon-class ships, so what kind of room is behind this door?_ He gets his answer when the door swishes open and the knight steps through the threshold.

 _Oh…it's an equipment room. I think. There are sure a lot of outfits…I guess Kylo Ren has to disguise himself on some of his missions?_ Thanisson has never seen so much clothes in his life; at least, not counting the time that he and Cade had to deliver some costumes for a fashion show. He sees fancy suits, glittery pants, colorful blouses, and even some regal headpieces. He sees a whole wall devoted to dresses that make his eyes bulge at the amount of rare, if they were real, jewels decorated on them. _Well…maybe the dresses are for the female knights, because they look pretty slim, or for some planets where men commonly wear dresses. They could be robes, but aren't robes and dresses like the same thing except robe is the "manly" version of a dress?_

The Raven Knight gently lays him in the middle of the richly-fabric room and then wanders away from Thanisson's view. _Okay…maybe he's trying to find an outfit for himself? But why am I here? It's not like I can be one of those friends who gives fashion advice. I'm not even good at picking out clothes for myself which is why I love wearing uniforms._ It takes only a minute before the Raven Knight comes back into view.

"Oh? Is that for me?" In the Raven Knight's arms is what appears to be standard First Order winter gear. There's a well-insulated, fur-lined white jacket with matching pants and boots; there is a gas mask that is either used in places where the air is not completely breathable or where the place is so cold that scarves and face masks are not enough to protect against frostbite. _Gee, if I have to guess, then I say we're going to a very cold place…I hope it's not Hoth or Rhen Var. But clearly it's colder than Starkiller base. Well…at least we're not going to pfassking desert!_

The Raven Knight puts the bundle of clothes by Thanisson's head; and, for a minute, the Raven Knight stares at the nervous blonde. He then reaches down, and for the briefest of seconds Thanisson believes he's about to be carried again, but the knight's gloved hands un-swaddles him.

"Thank you so much, M'Lord!" Thanisson shouts louder than necessary but just as gratefully. He stretches his freed arms above his head, relishing the stretching. The Raven Knight departs wordlessly through the same door that they entered. _Oh, I better change then. We must be near Ziost…I think. I don't know how long I was out! I'm pretty certain that he must've used the Force to knock me out…for some reason. Maybe Kylo Ren ordered him to do that because he didn't want to deal with me. Or anyone who respects General Hux more than him…I can see him doing that._

Thanisson quickly strips out of his uniform and pulls off his boots. When he puts on the winter gear, he marvels just how puffy he looks in it. _Force, I look like marshmallow in a radiation suit! And the mask…I feel like I'm in one of those B-list horrorholos…just like that shrine back on Bakura. I—why am I thinking about the shrine? We're going to Ziost, not Bakura! I…I'm just being paranoid. I might die, but that's just part of life. Is it possible that the man from my…dreams could be Nihl—_

The door swishes open as the Raven Knight walks through. Thanisson then hears the telltale hissing sounds of a ship landing; it is time to go. He follows the Raven Knight to the exit ramp where Kylo Ren is awaiting them. By Kylo Ren's feet is Thanisson's bag. Thanisson does not go to get his bag because Kylo Ren has not ordered him to do so. That, and he's distracted by the silent exchange between the Master and his knight. _I wonder what they're saying to each other…I wish I was a telepath. No, wait, no I don't. I would hate to hear everyone's thoughts; it would probably be mostly about sex, work, and fear…stars, no wonder Kylo Ren slashes at control panels all the time! I would be pissy too if I had—_

"Thanisson, stay by Nihl Ren's side unless he orders you not to." Kylo Ren commands him. The Raven Knight goes over to Kylo Ren and picks up Thanisson's bag. Thanisson sees a very long, jagged black staff with a black, flat circle at the end of it strapped to the knight's back. He then walks off the ramp and into the white tundra.

"Yes, Lord Ren." Thanisson accepts his order and then goes down the exit ramp, expecting for Kylo Ren to follow them shortly. _Holy shit, this makes Starkiller base look like bloody Mustafar!_ Ziost, he quickly realizes, is a place of cutting winds and thick snow making him wipe his mask of collected snowflakes just to see a couple of centimeters in front of him. Thanisson is amazed at how the knight is not shivering to death from the cold; Thanisson, even with his heated winter gear, feels like his bones froze over. _Is the Force keeping him warm since he only has that thin-looking…jacket covering him? Still, I feel like he should've put on a thicker coat at least._ He hears the loud roar of engines starting up and quickly turns his head to see that the ship has ascended.

 _Oh no, Kylo Ren wouldn't just leave us in the middle of a kriffing tundra?! I'd get if it was just me, but he's leaving one of his pfassking knights behind! WHAT. THE. KRIFF! HE LEFT US! HE FUCKING LEFT US! What the Hells are we supposed to do for food!? Or shelter!? THAT MOTHER—_ His screaming tirade is interrupted by the Raven Knight grabbing his left hand. Thanisson's anger freezes over when he quickly realizes that the knight must've heard his not-so flattering thoughts. However, he does not get the beating or Force-choke that he'd imagine he would receive from Kylo Ren. No, it seems that the knight is content on holding his hand like they were preschoolers on a field trip.

 ** _Do not fear, I will provide for you._** Thanisson hears someone gently, darkly promise in his mind.

 _M'Lord?_

 ** _It is I speaking to your soul, and your soul has responded._** Thanisson looks, even if the mask obscures his face, dumbfounded at the Raven Knight. _Wait, I thought telepathy dealt with thoughts, not souls!?_

 ** _I am not reading your "mind"; I am merely conversing and listening to your soul._**

 _O-Okay…what do we do now, M'Lord? I…didn't pack any food or even camping equipment._ Thanisson is bitterly reminded of the scratches he received from the raven, the same one that is living in his quarters right now, on Bakura and how no one in his group even had a medkit on them. _I bet they were laughing at me later when they...left me. Just like Kylo Ren._

 ** _Stay by my side._** And with that, the Raven Knight tugs Thanisson along. And Thanisson stays by his side.

* * *

It's not hard for Thanisson to cling to the knight's side, the knight is like a living furnace, but that's due to the fact that the knight refuses to let go of his hand. Thanisson is not complaining because he's nearly blind in the snowstorm and should be freezing to death, but the knight is somehow transferring heat into him. _At least I won't lose any limbs to frostbite…but shouldn't he be using some of this heat for himself? The heat must be from the Force and isn't the Force supposed to be this unlimited supply of…life?_

The Raven Knight turns his mask back to gaze at him.

 ** _It is power._**

Thanisson expects the Raven Knight to add more, but he hears nothing in his "soul" and presumes that the Raven Knight was offering a Force-null such as himself a simplified explanation about the Force. He appreciates the simplicity.

 ** _I do not underestimate your intelligence. I merely gave you my view on the Force. The Force differs for everyone, creating differing opinions, but, to me, it all comes back to power. If you have enough power, then you can have mastery over life and death. Or even ascend mastery and become Bogan._**

 _So you can become God?_ Thanisson is a borderline atheist mostly because Cade raised him to not believe in religious preachers. _People have their own interpretation of things and people love shoving their opinions down the throats of the gullible. And the religious ones are the worst offenders._ He can practically hears Cade's gruff voice in his mind.

 ** _God is not real. It is merely an instrument to inspire false hope. But Bogan is real._**

 _What is Bogan? I've…heard that "term" from a long time ago?_ Thanisson hazily recalls the vision he experienced with the raven in his room. He remembers his ash-marked body and the red-eyed man from the pyramid. _Is it just a coincidence that Nihl Ren happens to know the same word as the red-eyed man? This galaxy is vast and, apparently, the Force is even vaster._

 ** _Bogan is the ancient name of the Dark Side._** And, Thanisson lets out an audible "oh" from beneath his mask. _Why did I not figure that out? He's a Knight of pfassking Ren! They aren't necessarily peaceniks like…ancient Jedi. Of course, they would be about the Dark Side! Wait, does that mean the red-eyed man was a knight too? Or a Sith? Wait, Sith have golden eyes, so he wasn't a Sith. Or maybe just a Dark Sider? There's gotta be some Force-users that certainly weren't Light, but they definitely didn't want to deform themselves for the Dark._

 ** _We, Knights of Ren, are followers of Bogan, not Sith._**

 _So what's the opposite of Bogan?_ Thanisson knows that the Force is real but has never really been interested in the philosophies of either side because they seem too extreme. _Jedi demand self-sacrifice, while Sith demand self-importance. Or, at least, that's what Cade told me._

 ** _Ashla is the ancient name of the Light Side. I believe Grey Jedi are followers of Ashla without being truly Jedi. However, Ashla demands complete, unquestionable devotion, so I doubt there are any Grey Jedi in these times. Echani Handmaidens are another example, but they are very selective and secretive._**

 _Would Dathomir witches be followers of Ashla?_ Thanisson shivers when he thinks about those witches. _One of them tried to kidnap Cade…and it ended with a very pissed-off Cade. And a bunch of burning witches!_

 ** _Yes, and the Nightsisters would fall under followers of Bogan if not for Mother Talzin's teachings._**

 _Why wouldn't they exactly?_ A pregnant pause ensues, reminding how deafening the winds outside of their "soul-talking" are.

 ** _They believe in slavery. Bogan is the breaker of chains, while Mother Talzin and her Nightsisters are slavers!_**

 _Is freedom the most important tenant of Bogan?_ Thanisson is kind of amazed how he's still having this nearly religious conversation. _Usually, I just nod my head at this point and try to figure out my exit strategy. Then again, what else can I do? I can go nowhere in this storm. And besides, Nihl Ren is interesting as he is scary. Would that be a compliment to a Knight of Ren?_

 ** _No, passion is._**

 _But wouldn't it be power? Because you said if you have enough power, then you can become Bogan._ Thanisson is certain he has hit the religious contradiction of this so-far captivating conversation. _I hope he doesn't blow up in my face about it. Or actually blow up my face. Can Force-users do that? I mean if Darth Maul survived losing the lower half, the half with his digestive and waste disposal systems, of his body with only robot spider legs, then it shouldn't be that impossible for a Force-user to blow up someone's face with their mind._

 ** _Passion begets power. Passion is the purest strength that Bogan can part with. Emotions such as Rage, Hatred, and even Sorrow are wellsprings of passion. But the greatest wellspring is Love._**

 _Love? That doesn't seem…dark._

 ** _Oh, but it is! Love is the gravest of all sins to Ashla. Love is what binds us to this realm of existence; it leads the other forbidden emotions. Look at what Love has wrought! Wars, worlds, and whirling madness! It is what brought about The Fall of Mortis! Love is power!_**

 _…_

 ** _But Love is only for the chosen. To love and be loved in return is to wield unlimited power!_**

 _…_ _M'Lord, have we—_

 ** _Stay behind me! I have found our shelter for the night, but it appears occupied._**

 _By what?_

 ** _Vine cats._**

* * *

Thanisson can sort of see a blurry, rocky outline of a cave's mouth, but he does not see the vine cats. Then again, he doesn't know exactly what a vine cat looks like. He knows that they must look feline in appearance, hence the _cat_ , but he has nothing else. _And this is what I get for not taking Xenozoology! Odds are, given this planet's frigid terrain, they're probably huge and furry with claws and fangs like cats. Maybe. Then again, what else can survive in this place?_

 ** _Do not worry, I sense two. Most likely, a mating pair. An auspicious omen from Bogan, indeed._**

Thanisson almost relaxes. There are only two of those vine cats, but that doesn't mean the vine cats themselves aren't dangerous. _They could be in a mating frenzy and will eviscerate anyone who interrupts them…kind of reminds me of Cade when he was with Talon._

They walk until they actually reach the cave's mouth and Thanisson looks into the mouth. _Utter blackness…maybe my bag has a flashlight? Or a flare? Maybe the vine cats are nocturnal and would be blinded by sudden light! That could work for a surprise—_

And then, Nihl Ren reaches for the staff on his back, pulls it out, and presses a button. A red blade comes from atop the staff. _Okay…the staff is a really long lightsaber? Why am I surprised by this? He's clearly a Force-user and most of them use lightsabers! Then again, his lightsaber is…unexampled._

 ** _Actually, this is a Force pike which is a kind of lightsaber. My Force pike is not necessarily unique since Darth Sidious's Shadow Guard also wielded Force pikes similar to mine._**

 _Who is Darth Sidious? And I thought the Shadow Guard were some elite contingent of Emperor Palpatine's Royal Guard._ Thanisson knows he's a piss-poor student of history, but he at least knows that much of Imperial history. Especially since the Academy shoved Emperor Palpatine's reign down his throat. The Raven Knight makes no reply and they continue onwards with Nihl Ren's Force pike lighting the way.

Thanisson does his best to remain quiet in both his body and mind. He does not want to distract the Raven Knight nor draw the attentions of the vine cats. Nihl Ren halts and Thanisson mimics him. For a minute, Thanisson has no idea why they are stopping until he hears soft hissing. _That must be the vine cats! Huh, they actually hiss like cats. You know if the cats were injected with too much testosterone._

The hissing gets louder and louder until, finally, the vine cats appear. Their color, like sea-teal mixed with eel-green, is what catches Thanisson's eyes first. Their eyes are so bright with blue that Thanisson almost believed that they were blind. Their blue-green nostrils flare and they claw the ground like they were warning them.

 _How arrogant._ Thanisson couldn't help but think. _What kind of predator would warn off potential prey? What they hunted enough for the day (night?) and are too tired to go after us?!_

 ** _If they were truly arrogant, they would have not come to meet us. This is a pretense._**

Once again, Thanisson wishes that he took a couple of Xenozoology courses back in the Academy. _This is what I get for ignoring nature and pretty much passing it off as primitive uselessness to technology. Because of course nature would create an animal species that likes to play mind games!_

Nihl Ren lets go of his hand and steps toward the vine cats; the vine cats watch him intently and ignore Thanisson. Nihl Ren then drops Thanisson's bag onto the cave floor, creating a loud bang that somehow didn't startle the vine cats from their place.

Nihl Ren takes another step, eliciting another reaction from the vine cats. The vine cats' legs tense like they are about to strike. Nihl Ren reverses his grip on his pike and wields it like he's about to throw it like a spear.

The vine cats leap several meters into the air with their claws directly aimed for Nihl Ren's face. Nihl Ren volleys his lightsaber at one and spears one in the head and through the rest of its body like a skewer. The other one, the only living one, continues its strike, but Nihl Ren catches it by its throat.

 ** _CRUNCH!_**

Blood comes out of the vine cat's throat; Nihl Ren drops it to the floor and goes over to the other vine cat. He pulls out his lightsaber and turns to face Thanisson.

 ** _You were correct in your assertion of them. I shall make amends with a feast!_**

Thanisson's eyes focus on the vine cats and then back to the Raven Knight's mask. He is not horrified by how cleanly, and quickly, the knight took out the vine cats. In an odd way, he is reminded of his childhood where Cade would kill some fiendish creature, usually in the form of a strung-out mark, right before his baby brother's eyes. That kind of childhood has left him almost immune to seeing corpses. He really has only one thought at the moment.

 _How the Seven Sith Hells is he going to cook them?_

Thanisson watches as Nihl Ren, with near surgical precision, carves into one of the vine cats with his Force pike. He plunges his forearms deep into the chest cavity of the one who he speared through the head. He pulls out an infant-sized, teal heart from it. And then goes to the other one and does the same thing. He walks back to Thanisson and offers them both to him like they were rare delicacies.

 ** _Their hearts shall replenish us._**

 _Uh…I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think it's exactly sanitary to eat them raw._ Thanisson isn't ungrateful, but he's just not "adventurous" enough to eat something raw. Even if his stomach is making quite a convincing, growling, argument otherwise.

 ** _Hold them for me._**

Nihl Ren drops both hearts into Thanisson's arms, who scrambles to catch them, as he takes a step back. He then begins unzipping his jacket and then lets it drop to the floor. Thanisson's eyes widen like he's been bitten by a Tuk'ata.

 _You're…You're HIM!_ Thanisson nearly screams aloud when he sees the familiar black bone armor and pale skin of the red-eyed Nagi from his dreams. Nihl Ren then unlatches his mask and drops it on his bloodied jacket. _His face still looks on like some black and white painted, or more likely tattooed, skull. His hair is still black like pure darkness and it got longer! Like beyond waist-length! And he has it in a high ponytail! And why am I focusing so much on his hair!? He's the one who…who did all those weird things to me on Bakura!_

 ** _I was informing Bogan of our betrothal._**

Thanisson freezes and his mind blanks for a solid minute.

 _What!?_

Nihl Ren tilts his head and blinks like he's the one who is supposed to be confused.

 ** _I never hid away the memory of our betrothal._**

 _WE'RE ENGAGED! SINCE WHEN!?_

 ** _Four years ago, you proposed to me at one of Bogan's shrines on Bakura._**

Thanisson's is hit with an epiphany. _The raven that was going to tear apart Yage's pretty, pretty face until I called to it. It did a dance…a mating dance! HOW THE PFASSK DID I NOT REALIZE THAT!_

 _Are you a shape-shifter!?_

Nihl Ren frowns.

 ** _No, I am no Clawdite. I am a Nagi._**

 _Then, how could've I proposed to you!? As a matter of fact, I was just bird-calling the raven! And you're no raven!_ Thanisson wants to pull at his hair, but he would rather not drop their dinner to the germy ground.

 ** _The raven is me. I can control it with the Force and view the world through his eyes. By proposing to the raven, you are, in essence, proposing to me. By your reactions, I see that you did not expect my acceptances…do you wish to break our betrothal?_**

Thanisson hesitates when he hears, no, feels the woe in Nihl Ren's question. _Okay, he kind of understands that I wasn't really serious about the whole proposal-thing. So he's got to understand that I don't want this. I don't want to get married at twenty to…an almost literal stranger!_

"Yes, I do." Thanisson says aloud, nearly surprised by the firmness in his voice after such disuse. Nihl Ren does not look away in shame nor does he foam at the mouth in rage at the petty officer's impudence. Nihl Ren reverses his grip on his lightsaber like he's going to spear the vine cat again. Instead, he points the red blade at where his heart lies.

"WHAT THE FRAK ARE YOU DOING!?" Thanisson screams and drops the hearts; he rushes as fast as he can to Nihl Ren and grabs the hand holding the Force pike. He tries pulling the hand away from Nihl Ren's heart, but it was like moving a monolith.

 ** _I am fulfilling the breaking of our betrothal._**

"BY KILLING YOURSELF!?" Thanisson feels his heart hammering in his chest like he's about to go into cardiac arrest. Nihl Ren's red eyes never fail to look at him.

 ** _You were the one who proposed to me those years ago. Since you want to break our betrothal, then you must have found me unworthy after all this time. And if I am unworthy of you, then I am unworthy of Love from Bogan._**

Thanisson opens his mouth to say something but closes it. _What do I do? I can't just let him kill himself! One, I don't want him to die. Two, without him, I will die here! Even if I survive and find the ship, Kylo Ren would certainly kill me. Either way, I die if he dies._

 ** _I would tell Master Ren of your answer; he understands the ways of Bogan, so he cannot harm you. He would offer you safe transport back to your General._**

Thanisson wishes he was heartlessness enough to accept Nihl Ren's promise. _But I don't want you to die! Why can't you find someone else to marry you? Surely, there's someone out there more deserving of you than me!_

Nihl Ren's red eyes slightly look away from him.

 ** _I have been…harmed. And I thought I was unworthy to have Love because of it. So when you called me…I thought….I was worthy. Bogan gave me someone who could actually love me._**

Thanisson feels his throat close up at Nihl Ren's revelation. _Stars…I…how do I even respond to that? What did he mean by "harmed"? And why do I feel like the answer would just kill me? All I know is that I don't want him to die!_

 ** _You are my only chance at Love. Without you, I might as well die._**

 _…_ _I…please, don't. I…_ Thanisson lets his head fall against Nihl Ren's saber arm.

 _I'll marry you. Just…please, don't…die._ Thanisson feels his eyes burn; he is overwhelmed by Nihl Ren. He blessedly hears the lightsaber being unignited. He lifts his head up to gaze into Nihl Ren's red eyes. _Please don't die_. He pleads once more.

 ** _As you wish, Betrothed._**

* * *

 **Author's Comments-** Okay, let's get the links out of the way:

Thanisson's winter gear for the cold side of Ziost just take away the respiration tank from this but leave the mask and the whole outfit is white: a href=" esq. /assets/cm/15/07/54d95865b7fd8_-_ "Link/a

Nihl Ren's mask: a href=" . "Link/a

Nihl Ren without his getup: a href=" uploads/original/11111/111114474/4533527-darth+ "Link/a

The image I used for the Ziost's vine cats: a href=" 6754/f/2011/161/3/e/vine_cat_by_ "Link/a

Okay, while Thanisson and Nihl Ren are busy with surviving, I'm going to fill you in on what Kylo Ren is actually doing. And, no, it is not wrestling with his feelings for Hux! In fact, he's been busy following this guide that he made:

Kylo Ren's _Guide to Hooking up a Knight of Ren (Nihl Ren) with a First Order Officer (Petty Officer Thanisson)_ :

Step One: Create some bullshit mission to get the officer that the Knight of Ren has a thing for (or in Nihl's case is already engaged to and just needs some time to getting to know each other) and aforementioned lovelorn Knight of Ren on the same ship together.

Step Two: Make sure the mission is to a place where comlinks don't work and make it very clear to a nosey, nagging General that he is not allowed on the mission. You may have to use Supreme Leader Snoke for the latter.

Step Three: Once the officer is aboard the ship, make sure to render him unconscious via the Force because you need to take measurements of the officer to make final adjustments to the wedding dress that you've been painstakingly sewing for their wedding. And then have your Knight of Ren swaddle the officer because people usually don't like being knocked out and tend to do very stupid things when they regain consciousness. And your Knight of Ren loves watching the officer sleep.

Step Four: Once you've reached the planet, you then abandon the Knight of Ren and his officer on the winter side of the planet so they will have to survive together to make their way to the capital city where their wedding is going to be held out. Granted, the Knight of Ren will do all the work, but the officer will be very grateful to the Knight of Ren and will be absolutely fine with being told that he must marry said Knight of Ren. Absolutely.

Step Five: While the future happy couple are busy fighting off Vine Cats and huddling together for warmth, you will need to clean the palace in which the wedding will take place in. Decorate the altar. Design the wedding cake. Unload the dead virgin from your ship. Make some final, final adjustments to the wedding gown. Burn the dead virgin in the oven. Collect the ashes of the dead virgin. Sanitize the oven. Bake the wedding cake. Clean and furnish the Honeymoon Suite. Sprinkle a little bit of the virgin's ashes over the bridal garments, the newlyweds' bed, and the altar. Save the rest of the ashes for the actual wedding ceremony. Frost and decorate the cake. Finally, summon the Sith Spirits to stand as witnesses for this unholy matrimony. Do not scream like a little girl if your grandfather just happens to actually attend. You will have about two days, maybe even three, to do all of this. So no pressure!

Step Six: The wedding of the Knight of Ren to his chosen one.

Step Seven: Get some fucking sleep.

Step Eight: Try to return to the _Finalizer_ by the deadline if only to avoid a massive migraine in the form of a certain nosey, nagging General that you just do NOT want to feed cake to and sniff his hair.

Step Nine: Get some fucking sleep!

 _Eds. Note: For the love of the Force, do NOT follow this guide because this is completely insane and highly illegal. However, I must disclose that this is still parsecs healthier than what Chantique Ren did to Lieutenant Mitaka and what Kylo Ren will do to General Hux. Only Captain Phasma and Chief Petty Officer Umano are spared from the madness of the Knights of Ren. But they're also taking bets on which knight will end up with which officer. So…no one gets to be innocent in this endeavor. Except maybe Mitaka because he's the Cinnamon Roll. And Thanisson. And Nihl Ren._


	4. Betrothal

Hatchling Chapter Three

* * *

Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Ceremony by New Order

* * *

The hearts, even after being on the dirty floor of the cave, taste rather…hardy after being cooked via Nihl Ren's Force-lightning. At least, this is what Thanisson tells himself as he bites into his heart, trying desperately to ignore the gamey freshness. _And this is what a childhood of processed food and bland Academy meals have made me unable to handle fresh food. I mean as fresh as a heart can get. Or maybe I just don't like organ meat. No, I had fried Shaak liver once._ Thanisson thinks as he watches his _betrothed_ eat his heart. He eats like a raven, taking small strips out of it with his canines.

 _Wow, Cade was right. I was going to marry before him. Then again, monogamy wouldn't be "cool" for Cade._ Thanisson snorts, which causes Nihl to look up from his heart.

 ** _Who is Cade?_** Nihl asks or mentally projects at him. _Wait, he said he speaks to my soul, so I guess he soul-asked?_ Thanisson feels the beginnings of a headache coming on. _Yeah, I'm just going to be verbal instead of thoughtful._

"He's my older brother. He's like eighteen years older than me." Nihl does not seem surprised by the huge age gap like most people are. _Even Talon was surprised and she…hardly emoted. Aside from lust and anger._ Thanisson was not shocked when Cade and Talon broke up.

 ** _By blood?_** Thanisson smiles at Nihl's answer.

"Yes. We share the same mother, but different fathers. Our mother abandoned him, along with his father, when he was born for her career. She and my father died when I was like one, so I never got to know them, but….I'm ashamed of her for doing that to him." _And Cade chose to raise me when he could've easily left me in an orphanage or with some proper Imperial family. That must've been the hardest thing he had to do. Well, aside from quitting death sticks. But that was all for me._ Thanisson gets slightly teary-eyed.

 ** _He must be a very noble person to do that._** And Thanisson couldn't help but laugh, almost slapping his knees with the heart while doing so. It takes him a minute to calm down, but he's happy to see that Nihl isn't glaring at him. Nihl is just…staring at him with an almost clueless expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just _noble_ is a word that will never correspond with Cade! I love him dearly, but he can be such an arse! I mean he's badass, cool, and tough, but he sucks at comfort or offering non-violent solutions to small problems. And don't let me get started on his disastrous love life! It's a good thing that Deliah advocates in polyamory!" Thanisson wants to shake his head at how stupidly lucky that his brother hasn't been murdered by one of his exes. _Although, Talon did try, but she escaped with her life._

 ** _I do not know if I have or had any blood siblings. But I do view my fellow knights as brothers-in-arms. There's Master Ren; he's strong and emotional. There's Jarael; she's loyal and hot-blooded. There's Chantique; she's lusty and vindictive. There's Broonmark; he's bloodthirsty and unerring. There's Maladi; she's obedient and exacting. Finally, there's Sion; he's young and taciturn. I don't know him well since he's just recently joined our ranks._** Thanisson wonders if Nihl is being so….restraint on his descriptions because it's classified.

 ** _I am merely stating how I see them; for all I know, you could view them as something else._** _When you meet them_. Thanisson hears the unfinished soul-thought.

"Oh, so it's always been like the six of you, not counting the new one?" Thanisson asks. _You know I don't think there's any information on the Knights of Ren in the ship's databanks. Then again, I am just a low-rank Petty Officer, so I'd probably need a General's clearance to get access. Or update my splicer technology…_

 ** _There has always been seven knights including the Master of the Knights of Ren. The Knights of Ren are an ancient order dating back to Darth Millennial._** _Wait, Darth Millennial? Okay, I am still a piss-poor student of history, so I don't know if that's the time of the Ancient Sith Empire or Revan. Or are those two one in the same? Pfassk, history is so confusing!_ Thanisson continues to take another huge bite of the heart to keep his mind away from history.

 ** _Darth Millennial existed about a thousand years before the Battle of Yavin._** Nihl supplied for Thanisson's sake.

"Wow, so there must be generations of knights still around! Are they like instructors or something for new ones?" Nihl takes another bird bite of his heart.

 ** _No, they are all dead. For a new Master of the Knights of Ren to come about, the old one and his or her knights must die. We knights are loyal to our Master; we are weapons to be forged and utilized by our Master. So Master Kylo had to kill the previous Master and her knights. And then he had to rebuild the Order with knights that he handpicked. I was the first knight to join the new Order._** It takes Thanisson nearly a minute to process this information. And it takes another minute of careful consideration for Thanisson to speak again.

"So what were you before a knight?" _Mercenary? Assassin? Or possibly some kind of knight for another order?_ Thanisson predicts.

 ** _A warlord._** Silence ensues for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Of a tribe?" _Certainly not of the United Warlord Fleets back in the early post-Empire days. Because if he was, then, he would've been gassed along with all of those Moffs who became Warlords after the fall of the Empire. The only ones who survived were Admiral Natasi Daala and Admiral Gilead Pellaeon. And Colonel Ivan Cronus, but he was later killed. I know Pellaeon and those in his fleet went on to join the Chiss, but Daala kind of disappeared._ Thanisson knows that this is one of the few pieces of history that he can recall with startling accuracy; it's mostly because he just found it fascinating how some of the leftover Imperials just didn't join the First Order in the Unknown Regions. Instead, they were like, _"Fuck the New Republic, even if we have no chance of succeeding due to our constant backstabbing, we are at least going to inconvenience them and give the First Order a massive headache!"_ And they did.

 ** _Of a dwarf satellite galaxy. Firefist, to be exact._** Thanisson drops his heart onto the ground, but Nihl uses the Force to prevent it from hitting the dirty ground.

"A galaxy? Not a planet, not a system, not a sector. A galaxy!? And what, was there a coup or the galaxy died or something? How did you go from warlord of a galaxy to a Knight of Ren!?" Thanisson asks incredulously. _Seriously, that's like going from a Grand Admiral to a Petty Officer! Then again, there's probably a lot of politics involved in ruling and he doesn't seem like a politician. Not enough slime in him._

 ** _Master Ren challenged me and I lost; it was the will of Bogan._** _Wow…just wow. Oh Force, it's like one of those cheesy holos about chivalric knights! But of course, he would give up his rule if Bogan wills it! He must've not been ruling for long._ Thanisson theorizes because he just cannot wrap his head around why someone would give up so much power, being a warlord of a kriffing galaxy, just to be someone's knight. To be someone's weapon instead of using others as weapons.

 ** _I was nineteen when I became the Warlord of Firefist, so my rule lasted almost twenty-four years. Now, I believe Firefist has become a confederacy and each species has their own independent form of governments._** _Well…..I guess that's great there's no civil war there and they didn't collapse. But that must've been one hell of a transition period from dictatorship to confederacy._ Thanisson grabs his floating heart and takes a bite to center himself.

 ** _It was easier with the Tofs not being there._** Nihl's black lips form into a small smile, and Thanisson finds it pleasant like Nihl just told a joke he got.

"Let me guess these _Tofs_ probably hightailed it out of the galaxy after you came to power?" Nihl waits until Thanisson finishes his piece of heart before answering.

 ** _No, I killed them all. My extermination of the Tofs earned me the title and the power of Warlord of Firefist._** Thanisson is shocked; he's pale and his brown eyes are wide enough to seed a garden in. Nihl stares at him with that same smile on his face; he is proud and not afraid to show it.

 _That's a lot to take in. I think I just grasp that he is much older than me, but that might be okay. Maybe he's like the Ancients where they just live forever and look like…near demons from Ossus; actually, he kind of has that demonic look to him with the tattoos and the armor. I need to put a pin in that for later because that's not as shocking as him happily admitting that he's a mass murderer!_ But Thanisson is stock still like it shocks him how he's not shaking in front of a mass pfassking murderer.

 _However, I'm going to be a mass murderer too. I mean I'm not going to push the button that'll destroy the Hosnian Prime system like the General will, and I didn't design or build it like the technicians and engineers are doing. I could go to the New Republic, tell them about Starkiller, prevent the death of billions, and become part of the Resistance. But I'm not going to do that. I don't give a damn about the people in the Hosnian Prime system nor the emotional devastation that the New Republic will feel from it._

 _I'm complicit in this future mass murder that is preventable. Morally, I'm probably worse than the people who made Starkiller or the General because I actually have the skills to transmit this information to the New Republic. I'd most likely get caught, but it took days before Director Krennic caught the Death Star's designer, Galen Erso, in his decade-planned treachery and by then it was too late to stop the Death Star's destruction. Unlike Erso, I could actually transmit the weak points of Starkiller, which are the oscillators, to the New Republic in a fucking blink and Cade could smuggle me to the New Republic within a day!_

 _And…I'm worse than my fucking former warlord husband-to-be. I don't know how many Tofs were in the galaxy, but I doubt it's even close to the billions living on Hosnian Prime. And considering how we're in the Unknown Regions, I won't be shocked if the Tofs did horrible things to Nihl's people. Why else would he be declared the Warlord of Firefist if most of the species in that galaxy didn't approve of his actions! Because if it was just power, then he must be pretty fucking powerful to wipe out an entire species, but I doubt he would've been allowed to be the warlord if not for the approval of the majority. Because he's just one man against possibly billions of other species._

 _Wow, in a moral sense, I guess we do belong together. Isn't there some stupid Old Republic dribble about how terrible people belong together? And we're both mass murderers in a sense, and murderers are usually viewed as terrible people in most normal societies, so we belong together? Force, I…haven't said anything in a while and I don't know how to shield my thoughts, so he's most likely hearing everything that I'm thinking. Am I right, M'Lord?_ Thanisson manages an awkward smile that he usually uses on Cade whenever he fucks up his brother's stuff. Or _accidently_ flushed his cigarras down the toilet. Nihl's smiles widen, and it sends a curious chill down Thanisson's small, breakable spine.

 ** _You may call me Nihl. Master Ren isn't here to enforce such formalities. And morals don't matter much in the Unknown Regions as you know, gets in the way of survival._** Thanisson snorts at that joke. _I think that was Nihl's first joke!_

"Aside from the Tof genocide, how old are you exactly?" _Unless he just became a Knight of Ren in the last year, he'd have to be at least forty-four! I really need to find a datapad on the Nagai later. Most likely when I return to the Finalizer._ Thanisson is not looking forward to the report he'll be required to give to the General, mostly because how the Seven Sith Hells does one explain that the whole point of the mission is to just marry a low-rank officer with an ex-warlord knight?

 ** _I am forty-nine this year. My people don't exactly age as fast as humans do, physically speaking. I'm not sure about our natural lifespans considering how it's been millennia since the Nagai haven't been consumed by war with the Tofs. When you die, I'll die with you._** In romantic holos, Thanisson has heard those declarations by wilting lovers and has always thought how selfish that was. What about their families? Won't their parents be devastated about losing their children? What if they have kids? What happens to their kids? _Nihl's declaration isn't stupid, but it's sad. I mean what if I die from something as silly as a bump to the head? Or even here? Is he really going to throw the rest of his life away for me?_

 ** _Yes. What's the point of life without Love? I've lived that life before and I never want to live like that again. Death is far more preferable than a life without Love._** The burning intensity in Nihl's red eyes quell whatever argument that Thanisson could think of. For now.

"So…..how long will it take us to reach…wherever we're going?" _Unless the whole point is to survive in a blizzard? Is that how marriage goes for Knights of Ren?_ Thanisson hopes not.

 ** _The Sith Citadel is where we are going. It should take us about a day._** _Barring any more breaks I bet. Force, it might take two considering my weak endurance and shitty constitution for nature!_ Thanisson wishes that he took Phasma up on her offer to help him exercise. Even though exercising with her would've probably ended with him crying.

 ** _It'll give us time to get to know each other better, Thanisson._** Nihl reassures him, and Thanisson can't help but smile at such simple logic.

"Call me, Nat. The General's not here to enforce such formalities!"

* * *

 **Author's Comments-** No links this time.

Originally, this chapter was supposed to be them journeying to the Sith Citadel and it ending right where they enter the palace. Then the next chapter was supposed to be about the wedding and the following chapter was supposed to be a kind of epilogue with them on a honeymoon and Kylo dealing with Hux. However, I felt like that Thanisson and Nihl really need to get to know each other better, and this chapter is about them talking. Not much action here.

Also, natsumii on AO3, your comment about Nihl being a Nagai Warlord inspired me to actually go with it. And if Kylo Ren didn't find him, he'd still be the Warlord of Firefist. Which is a great alternative universe story to explore at some point. Also, I've read the first five issues of the _Legacy_ comics with Cade Skywalker and Darth Nihl, but I still have no idea what Nihl's actual age is or how aging works with his people, so I inserted my own theories to there. And, yes, Nihl is almost thirty years older than Thanisson! Let's just say Cade is going to give Nihl the "Blaster Talk" at some point. If I ever get around to writing them meeting, along with Thanisson meeting the rest of the Knights of Ren. Force, imagine the family reunions between these two families!


	5. Companionship

Hatchling Chapter Four

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Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- The Magic Yard by Luboš Fišer

* * *

Nat and Nihl left the cave as soon as the blizzard died down, which took about an entire night. They ate what was left of the hearts for breakfast, while they drank boiled snow-water. By the time they got out, the snow was piled high enough to reach Thanisson's pelvis.

 ** _Do not fret, I shall clear the snow away as we walk._** Nihl informs Nat and then uses his Force to carve a path for them like a snow-shovel. Nat feels like this a great misuse of his Force abilities, but he's not complaining.

 _At least he's not Force-choking poor Lieutenants with it!_ Nat vividly remembers seeing Mitaka desperately trying to hide his bruises the day-after his caf accident with Kylo Ren.

 ** _On that occasion, I disagreed with Master Kylo's response._** Nihl puts mildly in their telepathic link. Nat knows he should be embarrassed by that possibly treasonous thought, but he's glad that Nihl isn't Kylo's lapdog.

 _Why did he have to Force-choke Mitaka? Couldn't he just yell at him?_ It takes a moment for Nihl to respond.

 ** _My response may appear to be an excuse for Master Kylo's actions, but I am stating the facts. He is very powerful in the Force in the sense that he can wield both the Light and the Dark. The problem is the Light and Dark do not harmonize well. It also does not help that the Supreme Leader wants him to use both, but, of course, rely more on the Dark._**

 _So is it the Dark Side making him act like an arse?_ Nat knows that the Dark Side is usually associated with the Sith and that's what drove them crazy, or, at least, that's what he assumed after being lectured on it by Talon.

 ** _Possibly, but the Light can drive one mad too. For Master Kylo, he has two forces trying to drive him mad, and they succeed to a certain extent._**

 _I want to ask why he doesn't just stop using the Force, but I guess that would be the same as asking him to stop breathing._ Nihl nods and continues plowing the snow away.

 ** _And you as well. You see the Force exists in all living things in this galaxy._**

 _Wait, this galaxy? Have you been to other galaxies? Aside from satellite ones._

 ** _The Yuuzhan Vong hailed from a galaxy far, far away from ours. They were disconnected from the Force until the Quorealists went to Zonama Sekot and saw the rest of the True Way._** Nat feels his brain bring up images of the white demons from Ossus at _Yuuzhan Vong._

 ** _Yes, those are Yuuzhan Vong, but I do not think those were the Quorealists. You were very fortunate to get away from with your freedom._**

 _Don't you mean with my life? You can't enjoy freedom if you're dead._ Deliah would often yell that at Cade after a close-call, which happened plenty of times throughout Nat's childhood.

 ** _When you have your freedom stripped from you, death is the only choice you have left._** Nat feels himself tremble from Nihl's cold faith.

They speak no more for the rest of their trip.

* * *

Ziost's capital used to be a glorious mecca for the Sith, but now it is home to ghosts of the dark past. Though, Nat can believe that real ghosts are haunting the desolate capital.

 _I'll give the Sith this; they know how to design mystique._ Nat marvels at the buildings reminiscent of ancient skyscrapers. The roofs of the dreary grey buildings are topped with six-layered pyramids and atop the pyramids are statues of hooded humanoids. Some of the humanoids wield ancient lanterns, while others wield stone lightsabers.

 ** _Most of the city was built under Ajunta Pall's rule, but his citadel was here long before the city ever was._** Nihl points up at the highest cliff where the Sith Citadel resides atop of a cliff in the middle of the city, acting as the beacon for the pair. Hills of clear-blue crystals surround the citadel along with skeletons of great flying beasts.

 ** _Those are the remains of the Wyvern; they used to guard the citadel when the Empire was in power._** Nat knows that Nihl means the Sith Empire and not the Galactic Empire, but he cannot help but imagine Emperor Palpatine riding a Wyvern.

 ** _It is possible that the First and Last Galactic Emperor came here once, but as a lowly Apprentice._** Nat never really thought much about the late Emperor Palpatine; to him, he was just another Imperial relic that he has never met and his dead parents probably worshipped like every Old Imperial in the First Order.

 _Is the citadel supposed to look like three legless ATs smashed together with centipede warriors on top of them? And why do the crystals under the citadel look like skulls?_ Nat hopes that none of the quirky designs come to life.

 ** _This citadel was built by those who first occupied Ziost. It's possible that the occupants were centipede-looking Near-Humans and they also purposely carved the crystals into skulls to ward off their enemies. It's also possibly they may have inspired the designs of the ATs_** Thankfully for the betrothed pair, there are stairs that wind all the way up to the castle. Although, it takes two hours for the both of them to finally reach the crystal doors of the citadel. The doors cannot be opened by normal means, as Nat found out when he tried to push it open, so Nihl used his Force on it. It takes a solid ten minutes for the doors to finally open.

Kylo Ren is on the other side of the doors.

"Nihl Ren and Nat Thanisson, you have braved Ziost and made it to your wedding chapel, you have my blessing to wed." Kylo Ren does a princely bow before them, while Nihl nods in acknowledgement and Nat copies him. Kylo Ren tips his helm towards Thanisson.

"It is time to prepare you for the ceremony!"

* * *

 **Author's Comments-** Here are the links:

Here is an image of the Sith Citadel of Ajunta Pall: a href=" . /revision/latest?cb=20131128060725&path-prefix=it"Link/a

Here's the thing this story should've been finished a year ago, and, hopefully, it won't take me another year to finish it. I also planned to write a sequel to this story and a bunch on interrelated one-shots, but I'm not going to do that. I will finish this story, but the when is up in the air.

I have read issues #0-19 of _Star Wars: Legacy_ comics and I got some clarity on things that the Wookie didn't give me. Like Gunn "Gunner" Yage is the younger half-sister of Cade Skywalker (aka Cade Corde, the much older half-brother to Nat Thanisson in my universe of Star Wars stories) and Nyna Calixte (who also doubles as an Imperial spy named Morrigan Corde in the comics) is a horrible mother to both her children, which makes both of the children stick to their dads more. Surprisingly, Rulf Yage is not a verbally abusive asshole to his daughter; instead, he's loving but stern and allows Gunn some jabs at Nyna because Nyna did walk out on them for Grand Moff Morlish Veed. Also, found out that Darth Nihl really was a Warlord, possibly of Nagi, before becoming a Sith.

Needless to say, I have learned much about dysfunctional families from these comics. Also, I am inspired to write more about Thanisson and Nihl, especially on Thanisson's background. Force, there is so much I can write about him and his messed-up family tree.

Anyways, next chapter is the wedding and I guess what you would call a honeymoon, so there's going to be a form of sex in the final chapter between Nihl and Thanisson.


End file.
